Law enforcement and military personnel often use non-lethal weapons to help dissuade persons from engaging in unlawful or undesirable behavior. The non-lethal weapons used for this application, such as airborne irritant agents and shot-filled bags, typically deliver induced or inflicted discomfort. The non-lethal payload is contained in a carrier projectile, given flight impetus by some source of stored energy, accelerated in the barrel of the launching device, and then sent on an aerodynamic trajectory to the target.
While the actual non-lethal payload depends on its carrier projectile""s kinetic energy to perform its mission, the projectile itself is not configured or intended to deliver blunt trauma. It is desirable for the carrier projectile to rapidly shed its kinetic energy upon release of the non-lethal payload. A projectile constructed from lightweight material will quickly shed kinetic energy, but it will not be able to withstand the forces of launch while in the barrel of the launching device.
Under one aspect of the present invention, a non-lethal payload delivery assembly is provided having a carrier assembly releasably contained in a sabot assembly. Under another aspect, a method for launching the non-lethal payload delivery assembly from the launching device while protecting the carrier assembly from the forces of launch is provided. In one embodiment, the non-lethal payload delivery assembly includes a carrier assembly that releasably contains a non-lethal payload. The carrier assembly is openable upon application of a deploying force to deploy the non-lethal payload after the carrier assembly and the non-lethal payload are launched as a unit.
The carrier assembly is releasably contained in a sabot assembly having a plurality of sections movable from a closed position substantially surrounding the carrier assembly to an open position exposing the carrier assembly upon launch from the launching device. The sabot assembly is configured to absorb launch forces that exceed the deploying force during launch and allowing the carrier assembly and the non-lethal payload to survive the launch as a unit. A payload deployment system is connected to the carrier assembly and is activatable after launch for delivery of the deploying force that opens the carrier assembly for deployment of the non-lethal payload away from the carrier assembly.